Free Challenges by Sharon Green

goodbye to her, and she begged me to take her back to Rincammon with me. She said she hated everything about this city and wanted to go home, back to my residence in our city. I tried to be as gentle as possible when I refused her, but she still flew into a rage. She made me stop the coach then and there to let her out, but not before she said I’d be sorry for refusing her. I had no idea what she meant until the guardsmen came to arrest us. Her story is a lie, Your Honor, from beginning to end.”
    She used her smile on all three of the judges then, moving her body very slowly and gracefully. Jovvi recognized the subtle movement as one all courtesans are taught, to show prospective patrons that the courtesan is completely available. Allestine considered her speech and offer—a full success, but that was because she had Low level Fire magic. Spirit magic showed Jovvi how unhappy the three judges were with Allestine’s story, the judge on the left disgusted with the way she’d ignored his suggested defense.
    “Dama, are you saying you weren’t overcome by emotional loss and therefore found yourself doing something foolish?” he tried again, this time spelling it out for her. “The young lady had lived in your residence long enough for you to become sisterly—or motherly—fond of her, so perhaps you weren’t able to face the idea of leaving her behind all alone. That would explain—”
    “Nonsense, Your Honor,” Allestine interrupted with a small laugh, actually trying to make the words sound coy. “The girl was a terrible troublemaker in the residence, and she wasn’t even particularly popular with my patrons. With that in mind, you can see that the idea of my trying to kidnap her is pure nonsense. The truth is that I was very relieved to be rid of her.”
    “So that’s the truth, is it?” the judge on the right said while the one on the left sighed with exasperated resignation. “Then why don’t you tell us, Dama, why you came all this way just to visit a girl you don’t like? You’ve conducted no business of any sort in this city, nor have you visited anyone else. Court investigators checked the point thoroughly, so there’s no mistake.”
    “I’m afraid they weren’t quite as thorough as all that,” Allestine disagreed, apparently prepared for the question. “I came to Gan Garee to see if it was practical to open a residence here. I’ve been thinking about expanding for quite some time, and finally decided to look into the matter. Courtesy forced me into visiting that stupid girl while I was here, which I certainly now wish I hadn’t.”
    “Looking into expanding your business would mean seeing what properties are available and assessing the competition you would face,” the judge on the right pursued, his expression hard and unyielding. “You may now tell this court how you found out what was available, and the method you used to gauge your future competition.”
    “Why, Your Honor, the answer to those questions is very simple,” Allestine purred, privately feeling a ridiculing delight. “I
meant
to do those things, but I’m afraid I disliked this city the moment I laid eyes on it. As soon as I got here I decided against opening a residence after all, and so had no need to do any investigating.”
    “I see,” the judge on the right responded stiffly, vastly annoyed with Allestine’s inner amusement. “You came all the way from Rincammon just to change your mind once you got here. Would you now like to explain how a woman with High ability in Spirit magic can possibly make an unpopular courtesan? Or how such a woman could possibly prefer the life of an unpopular courtesan to the chance of becoming one of the new Seated Blending? Those points are still rather unclear.”
    “Not to me they aren’t,” Allestine all but snapped, resenting the fact that the prosecuting judge had brought up the very same argument that Jovvi had. “The girl just isn’t very bright, and she never seemed